-NYSE down 14 (0.2%) to 6,068.56.
-DJIA up 0.2 (0.00%) to 8,763.
-S&P 500 down 1 (0.1%) to 939.14.
-Nasdaq down 7 (0.4%) to 1,842.
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
Hang Seng down 2.28%
Nikkei up 1.0%
FTSE down 0.75%
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) MCD says May same-store sales up 5.1%, comments on currency impact to earnings.
(-) Q reaffirms FY 2009 earnings view.
(-) F reports cover increased competition.
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) ENDO sold to HealthTronics (HTRN) for $1.35 per share cash.
(+) STEM reports positive Phase 1 Batten trial results.
(+) MSPD raises Q3 sales outlook.
(+) ALL gets positive Barron's coverage that says stock undervalued.
(+) GIS expects to exceed 2009 earnings guidance.
(+) HD gets favorable Barron's coverage.
MARKET DIRECTION
Stocks clawed back in afternoon trading to finish narrowly mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 1 point or 0.01%, while the S&P 500 is down 1 point or 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite ends in the middle of the day's range, down 7 points or 0.4%. Stocks spent much of the session in the red as a firmer dollar prompted a pause in the commodities rally.
Crude oil for July delivery fell 35 cents to end at $68.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, the contract fell to an intra day low of $66.78 a barrel. Crude hit its best level since October late last week.
Stocks tumbled out of the gate as investors took profits while awaiting more evidence the economy is improving and financial sector health has returned.
The Obama administration is expected to announce this week that a higher-than-expected number of major financial institutions will be allowed to repay government bailout loans, the Washington Post reported Saturday. The report said the size of the repayments may be twice the initial estimate of $25 billion.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has maintained that the economy won't begin to recover until banks can demonstrate conclusively that they are healthy again and able to attract private equity investment.
In other banking news, Barclays (
BCS) is in talks to sell Barclays Global Investors (BGI), the British bank said this morning, with U.S. fund manager BlackRock the frontrunner to land the asset manager, according to Reuters. BlackRock (
BLK) and Bank of New York Mellon (BK) are both in talks to buy BGI in a deal that could be worth about $12 billion and might come early this week, the sources said.
